Sustainable Industrial Development in Penang

o The overall aim oithis project is to address the current unsustainable situation §f the manufacturing industry in Penang, and thdjnadequacies in the regulation of this industry, in order to point towards ways that a regulation of the industry can support a less unsustainable industrial development. Penang, a small state in Malaysia, has the past 20 years underwent a tremendous economic growth and a rise in welfare, mainly based on an immense development within the manufacturing industry. The growth of the industry has caused an environmental deterioation to a degree where it even put constrains on the development of other sectors in Penang. ^ Together with a one-sided forcus on attracting foreign investment, thus neglecting the interests of the local industry, and a one-sided enviromental regulation mainly focusing on command and control and end-of-line solution, and a number of other problems we there is an urgent need for a regulation of the industry addressing these problems. To analyse the situation of the manufacturing kidust Klfttjrand its enviromental impacts, and to find target areas for a regulation we have anmstitutional approach and, thus, look at the historical development ogf the industry and its Penang and Malaysian context. With a network approach we analyse the extern relations of the manufacturing companies in order to find ways to reach the industry with different regulation methods. Throughout the report we identify processes that have lead to the current unsustainable situation of the industry, and finally we conclude on how a regulation can support or initiate a less unsustainable industrial development. Our conclusion involve the following: • The need to raise the general enviromental awareness in Malaysia, and to particularly to improve the understanding of economical growth and a sound enviroment as not contradicting each other. The need to strengthen the enviromental administrational set-up, including more resources to the enviromental regulatory body. The need to estasblish more knowledge-centres and educational centres catering the needs of the industry. And finally the need to strengthen the networks of the companies and use these to promote R&D aand cleaner production. T E K S A M F O R L A G E T ISBN 87-7753-139-6 Roskilde University P.O. Box 260 DK 4000 Roskilde Denmark Phone ( + 45) 46 74 20 00 + lok. 2513 • E-mail [email protected] Sustainable Industrial Development in Penang by Bjarke Fonnesbech and Mille Kofoed